Hawaiin Hurricane, And Local Rain Chances

What a year for rain. One of the main rainfall records that the National Weather Service keeps is from Norfolk International Airport. (The sensor was moved there years ago). It has had 1.56″ already this month. That is 0.40″ above the average. However, we have had 30.96″ for the year already. That is a whopping 3.38″ above the annual average. So it has definitely been a wet year, and it doesn’t look like it is letting up soon. Last night Norfolk only had a trace of rain. However, there were some scattered downpours elsewhere. In fact there were some reports of trees down over parts of Isle of Wight County and Suffolk.

Radar Yesterday

A cool front moved through the region last night and caused the scattered storms. Today that front is to our south.

Cold Front In The Region

Yesterday temperatures were in the upper 80s to low 90s. Behind the front today we’ll go more for low/mid 80s. It will be a little drier, but it’s not going to be what I would call a dry day. Just not as bad as yesterday. Skies will be partly cloudy. There may be a stray shower over some far inland locations and northeast North Carolina. Otherwise the area is looking good. Tomorrow we are looking even better. Skies will be mostly sunny. It will be a little drier still. Highs will be in the mid 80s and winds will still be northeast at 5-10. However, an area of low pressure will develop over the Tennessee River Valley by Friday night. This will move into our region late Saturday into Sunday. So the rain chances will increase from the late morning into the evening on Saturday. Heavy rain is possible in the region Saturday night. It’s possible that part of the area could see some flooding. Stay tuned for updates. I’ll have a lot more on that tomorrow as the models get a little closer in range. They haven’t handled the weather very well over the past couple of weeks. We’ll see if they change before then.

The Atlantic is quiet now. Bertha is long gone. However, things are pretty rough in the Pacific. In fact hurricane Iselle will likely move right over the big Island of Hawaii. At the moment there are 2 hurricanes which are heading in that direction. (Iselle and Julio).

Tropical Satellite

Julio is likely to pass north of the islands. It may bring them some heavy rain and it will probably keep up the surge, but I think the overall impact will be low from the wind. However, Iselle is forecast to bring wind gusts of near 90mph, flooding rain, and a storm surge of 1-3 feet. Hilo may take some of the strongest winds and the storm is forecast to move just south of there.

Iselle Forecast

It will pass south of Honolulu, but will probably still bring them some strong winds. Stay tuned for updates. Hopefully, those folks will fare the storm ok.